Scaling up drone delivery of biomaterials to eight hospitals of Nizhny Novgorod Region is a project to expand unmanned aerial logistics, announced in October 2026 and scheduled for implementation in November 2026 with the support of the regional Ministry of Health.[1] The initiator and operator of the project is the Nizhny Novgorod AIDS Center.[2]
System design
The Nizhny Novgorod AIDS Center was the first in the world to combine unmanned aerial logistics, a robotic laboratory, and a digital platform into a single system.[2] As a result, test tubes with biomaterial are delivered within minutes, and the finished test result reaches the doctor in 50 minutes — a speed that allows clinical decisions to be made and treatment to be started more quickly.[1][2]
History and the first flight
The first flight under the project took place in 2025: a drone delivered about 100 test tubes of blood from the Bor Central District Hospital to the Nizhny Novgorod AIDS Center, covering the distance in about 10 minutes.[1]
Announcement of the scale-up
The project and plans for its expansion were presented by the center's chief physician, Solomon Apoyan, at the VI Russian Diagnostic Summit.[1][2] According to him, connecting eight hospitals in Nizhny Novgorod Region will make it possible to reach a significantly larger number of patients.[2] The news became public on October 23, 2026.[2]
Sources
- Open Nizhny — Test samples from eight hospitals in Nizhny Novgorod Region will be delivered by drones
- Newsroom24 — Nizhny Novgorod AIDS Center introduces drone delivery of test samples — Health